HAMBURG, a State of Germany, on the lower Elbe, bounded by the Prussian provinces of Schleswig-Holstein and Hanover. The whole territory has an area of 16o sq.m., and consists of the city of Hamburg with its incorporated suburbs and the surround ing district, including several islands in the Elbe, five small en claves in Holstein, the communes of Moorburg in the Luneburg district of the Prussian province of Hanover and Cuxhaven Ritzebiittel at the mouth of the Elbe, the islands of Neuwerk and Scharhorn off the coast, and the bailiwick (amt) of Bergedorf, which down to 1867 was held in common by Lubeck and Ham burg. Cuxhaven-Ritzebuttel and Bergedorf are the only towns besides the capital. The Geestlande comprise the suburban dis tricts encircling the city on the north and west; the Marschlande includes various islands in the Elbe and the fertile tract of land lying between the northern and southern arms of the Elbe, and with its pastures and market gardens supplying Hamburg with large quantities of country produce. In the Bergedorf district lies the Vierlande, or Four Districts, celebrated for its fruit gar dens. RiLzebuttel with Cuxhaven, also a watering-place, have mostly a seafaring population. Two rivers, the Alster and the Bille, flow through the city of Hamburg into the Elbe, the mouth of which, at Cuxhaven, is 75 m. below the city.
As a State of the republic, Hamburg is represented in the Reichsrat. Its present constitution came into force in 1921. According to this Hamburg is a republic, the government (Staats gewalt) residing in two chambers, the senate and the house of burgesses. The senate, which exercises the greater part of the executive power, is composed of 16 members over 3o years of age, elected from the house of burgesses, itself composed of 16o mem bers over 25 years of age who have been residents for at least one year. They are elected on a basis of proportional represen tation. The law administered is that of the civil and penal codes of the German republic, and the court of appeal for all three towns is the common Oberlandesgericht, which has its seat in Hamburg. There is also a special court of arbitration in commercial disputes and another for such as arise under accident insurance.
From the Reformation to the French occupation in the begin ning of the 19th century, Hamburg was a purely Lutheran State; according to the "Recess" of 1529, re-enacted in 1603, non-Luther ans were subject to legal punishment and expulsion from the country. Exceptions were gradually made in favour of foreign residents ; but it was not till 1785 that regular inhabitants were allowed some religious freedom. In 186o full religious liberty was guaranteed, and the identification of church and State abol ished. Since 1887 a church rate has been levied on the Evangelical Lutheran communities, and since 1904 upon the Roman Catholics also. Civil marriages have been permissible in Hamburg since 1866. In 1925 Protestants formed 85%, Roman Catholics 5%, and Jews nearly 2% of the population.
The jurisdiction of the Free Port was on Jan. 1, 1882, re stricted to the city and port by the extension of the Zollverein to the lower Elbe, and in 1888 the whole of the State of Hamburg, with the exception of the so-called "Free Harbour" (which com prises the port proper and some large warehouses, set apart for goods in bond), was taken into the Zollverein.
The population increased from 453,00o in 1880 to 1,214,097 in The population exclusive of the city of Hamburg was 89, 072 in 1933. The crops raised in the country districts are princi pally vegetables and fruit, potatoes, hay, oats, rye and wheat.